Bible
Study - Are You Really Sure Of Your Eternal Salvation?
Lesson 23
The Lord's Church
(Part B)
The one church that Christ purchased
with His own blood belongs to Him and the name it wears must honor
Him. We read in Romans 16:16, "The churches
of Christ greet you." This name glorifies and honors
Christ, the one who built it. Other names honor and glorify John
the Baptist, Martin Luther, the day of Penticost, the apostles,
Rome, Antioch, Nazareth, the Greeks, the Russians, the methodical
way of doing things, Christians, the free will, being primitive,
southern, missionary, general, the seventh day, science, catholic,
the advent, and the list goes on and on. Even by their names they
do not claim to be Christ's one church. Why can’t we give the glory
and honor to God and Christ where the honor belongs?
Today we hear the sincere but mistaken
plea to "attend the church of your choice." Why not attend
the church of God’s choice, the church of Christ, the only one that
Jesus "purchased with His own blood"
(Acts 20:28). Christ did not shed His blood to purchase any denomination
nor did He purchase a group of denominations. The word denomination
means a fraction or part of a whole. The Lord's church is
not a fraction or a part of anything. It is complete within
itself.
To identify the Lord's church,
the Bible gives us the specifications to go by. Any church
claiming to be the only church Jesus bought with His own blood should
be able to prove from the Bible they are that church of the Bible.
Can the church which you are a member prove that it is the one and
only church the Lord built, which is the church of Christ? If it
can’t then you will be laboring in vain if you stay in it. This
may sound harsh. I say this with sincerity and sadness, but it will
really be harsh if you are lost in eternity. We must wake up because
this concerns the welfare of our souls and where we will spend eternity.
People too long have ignored what the Lord has said in the Bible
and have blindly followed men.
In order to be in the one church
the Lord established, those added to it by the Lord must be saved
according to His requirements. In Acts 2:47 we read,
"And the Lord added to the church daily those
who were being saved." The Lord only adds the saved
to His church. There are no unsaved people in His church. We are
not saved just because we think or feel in our hearts we are. We
are saved only when we have done what God has said we must do. Jesus
says in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone
who says to Me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
but he who
does the will of My Father which is in heaven."
We must do God’s will, not man’s will, to go to heaven.
According to the Bible, who are
the saved? Jesus is quite clear as to who the saved are. Jesus says
in Mark l6:16, "He that believes and
is baptized shall be saved." A person has to have help
to misunderstand what the Lord says here. Here we see the Bible
says we must believe and be baptized in order to be saved. This
is what Jesus says. But men have tried to change what the Lord has
said. Men say that one does not have to be baptized, to be saved.
Who are you going to follow men or Christ? Jesus says in John 12:48,
"The word that I have spoken will judge
him in the last day." We are not going to be judged
by what our preacher says.
And also Peter tells us in 1 Peter
3:21, "The like figure baptism does
now save us." Only when we have obeyed the Lord’s command
to be baptized will we be saved. The Bible will be the only standard
of judgment on Judgment Day, and not what we think or what men say.
Are you putting your trust and confidence in what men say or what
God has said in the Bible? You are making this choice everyday as
to who you are following.
Also in order to be the church
which Jesus built, the church must worship God and Christ according
to the way They have specified. We are told in Ephesians 5:17,
"Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of
the Lord is." It is very unwise not to find out and
understand what the will of the Lord is from the Bible. Many
people are not finding out for themselves but are relying on someone
else to tell them. All you have to do is look around and see all
of the differing doctrines that are being taught in all the different
churches. Are they understanding and following the will of God?
Absolutely not. If they were there would only be the one church,
which Christ established, the church of Christ. What a pitiful condition
the religious world is in, one of which people should be ashamed,
but they are not.
If you are not worshipping God
and Christ the way They have specified in the Bible then your worship
is vain. Our Lord says in Mark 7:7, "And
in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments
of men." Have you been following the commandments of
men and only some of what God says in the Bible? If you have then
your worship is vain. Jesus says in Matthew 28:20,
"Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded
you." We must observe all things and only the things
the Lord has commanded us. Is your worship vain? If it is then it
will do you no good and you will be lost eternally. Please
follow God and not men.
Questions
Lesson 23
The Lord's Church (Part B)
(click on the button of the answer
of your choice)
1) (Romans 16:16) Which church do you read
about in the Bible?
Baptist Church.
Lutheran Church.
church of Christ.
2)
The Methodist Church is mentioned in the Bible.
3) (Acts 2:47) How do you get into the
Lord's church?
You join His church.
The Lord adds the saved to the church.
You are voted into His church.
4)
Only the saved are added to the Lord's church.
5) (Acts 20:28) Christ purchased His
church with
Money.
Nothing since it didn't cost Him anything.
His own blood.
6)
Any church claiming to be the one church the Lord purchased with
His own blood should be able to prove from the Bible they are that
church.
7) (Mark 7:7) If we try to worship God
according to the doctrines of men
It will be alright if we are sincere.
It is vain.
God will overlook it.
8)
If our worship is vain it will cause us to be lost.